Ronald Reagan on Gun Control

President of the U.S., 1981-1989; Republican Governor (CA)

Carried a pistol as president on his ranch & to the USSR

A former Secret Service agent remembers that when Reagan was running for president the first time, he came out of his home in Bel Air to drive to Rancho del Cielo, the 700-acre Reagan ranch near Santa Barbara. Another agent noticed that he was wearing a pistol and asked what that was for. "Well, just in case you guys can't do the job, I can help out," Reagan replied. Reagan confided to one agent that on his first presidential trip to the Soviet Union in May 1988, he had carried a gun in his briefcase. Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by Ron Kessler, p. 87-88 , Jun 29, 2009

I'm an NRA member & I support the Brady Bill

[In a 1991 speech, Reagan said]: "I'm a member of the NRA. And my position on the right to bear arms is well known. But I support the Brady bill and I urge the Congress to enact it without delay. It's just plain common sense that there be a waiting period [7 days] to allow local law enforcement officials to conduct background checks on those who wish to buy a handgun."

The Brady bill was opposed by the current President, George H.W. Bush. "I don't think it would be proper for me or any other ex-president to stand and tell an acting president what he should or shouldn't do," Reagan said. But then he added: "I happen to believe in the Brady Bill because we have the same thing in California right now."

He was asked why he had opposed all gun-control measures while he was President. He shook his head. "I was against a lot of the ridiculous things that were proposed with regard to gun control.

Source: The Family, by Kitty Kelley, p.502-503 , Sep 14, 2004

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